Boot Camp

04th October 2018

I’m Reuben the Community Solutions apprentice. Last week my apprenticeship really got underway as I began the education part of my role, with a week at the Project Digital Boot Camp. Here are a few highlights.

DAY ONE – On Monday we met at Turf Moor the home of Burnley FC and were put into groups. Whilst we were in our groups we did some group challenges and had a lesson from Caroline Dakin about resilience training and how we can become our better selves. THE CHALLENGE! We were given £50 and had to think about how we were going to make more money, just like on the TV show ‘The Apprentice.’ My team and I decided to buy and sell clothing.

DAY TWO – We met in Manchester. Tuesday was all about branding and we were taught about how companies use branding to their advantage. We as a team came up with the company name Basic Bits and the started to run into our logo with full force. At the end of the day we were very happy with our branding and our logo.

DAY THREE – We went to Manchester again, but this time to visit UK Fast, one of the world’s fastest growing managed hosting providers. The employees were all smiling and the building was amazing. Think Google but better! We even got a chance to meet the man behind UK Fast, Lawrence Jones. It was brilliant! In the afternoon my team and I went into the centre of Burnley and visited charity shops. We found one that sold brand new BooHoo stock, so we bought as much as we could. At the end of the day we had spent all our money but felt confident in our product and our business.

DAY FOUR – We needed to sell, sell, sell. However, our idea to sell on Facebook fell through and we could no longer use the social platform. Luckily a member of our team knew people at Burnley College and they needed something to put in their main entrance. We jumped at the opportunity and set up a stall with all our products. We noticed that the boots sold the best and they didn’t need much assistance to sell. The clothes took a bit more effort, but overall, we made a profit!

DAY FIVE – Presentation Day, where we talked about our week and how we found the challenge. It was a fun day and we got an insight into how the other teams had handled the week.

My week on the Project Digital Boot Camp has been one to remember. I cannot wait to continue the course and put into practice the things that I am learning at Community Solutions. I will keep you updated!